Lunchbox Series Part 2: Cheesy Chicken Veggie Slice

Today’s recipe is the second in our pre-Christmas lunchbox series. This goes really well with the Savoury Zucchini Nut Loaf, and the two slices together make for a compact, nutritious lunch. This is also great with fresh salads.

As with the Nut Loaf, the formula for making this slice is an easy one: Blitzing, Mixing Dry Stuff, Mixing Wet Stuff, and Combining Everything. Try this on a weekend to prepare lunches for the week, or even on a weeknight as a dinner + lunchbox leftovers. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

600g chicken mince
2 medium carrots, shredded*
2 zucchinis, shredded*
3 fresh eggs
1 cup wholemeal flour*
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 onion, finely chopped*
4 cloves garlic, minced*
1 tsp sea salt , 1 tsp pepper

*Tip 1 – For loaves, slices and raw desserts which require shredded or finely chopped veggies and nuts, I use the food processor as a half-minute’s blitzing does the job. For this dish I used the food processor to do the shredding, chopping and mincing — all at once.

*Tip 2 – For a gluten-free version (which is what I made today), use 1/2 cup all-purpose gluten free flour and 1/2 cup quinoa or buckwheat flour. Both quinoa and buckwheat have a higher protein profile, which balances out the more starchy gluten free flours (which usually contain a combination of rice, arrowroot, and potato flours). You can buy gluten free flour mixes at Coles and Woolworth’s, and some branches sell just plain rice flour as well.

Tip 3 – Feel free to add a handful or so of your favourite herbs — with this version I actually added a handful of chives and coriander, blitzed together with the veggies, and the result was really tasty.

Tip 4 – Although I have suggested specific veggies here, feel free to substitute approximately 2 cups of any veggies you like (e.g. peas, greens), as long as they are chopped finely or blitzed in your food processor.

Make It!

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.

• Blitzing – Slice the zucchini, carrots, and onion into smaller blocks that the food processor can handle. Add garlic. Blitz away to shred / mince.
• Mixing dry stuff – Combine flour, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, salt, pepper in a bowl and mix with a spoon.
• Mix wet ingredients – Mix chicken mince and eggs together with a fork. Add the minced veggie mix.
• Combine everything – Add the dry stuff to the wet ingredients and mix through. Transfer everything to either a loaf pan or a baking dish (I used a shallow baking dish roughly 30cm x 20cm). Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top.
• Baking – Bake for 35 mins. Test with a skewer and this should be done when the skewer comes out clear.

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